Mary (King) Rice (abt. 1630 - 1715)

Born about 1630 in England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Rice Sr. — married 1651 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 22 Mar 1715 at about age 85 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Rolland Rice [send private message] and Nancy Page [send private message]

Biography

Mary (King) Rice immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Mary (King) Rice was born in Dorset, England.

Mary King was born probably in England about 1630, daughter of Thomas King and Anne (maiden surname unknown).

She married Thomas Rice, son of Deacon Edmund Rice and Thomasine Frost, in 1651 at Sudbury, Massachusetts (not found in the published records).

She gave birth to 13 children between 1651 and 1679.

From book Edmund Rice and His Family, p. 50:

"Thomas Rice, the son of Edmund, who fled Marlboro at the time of the Indian raid, never returned, but remained apparently in Sudbury for the rest of his life where he bought several small parcels of land from various people. His life was not a long one, for he died in 1681 when he was only about fifty-five years old, leaving Mary with several small children to bring up, the youngest, Elisha, only two years old. He left a will giving to his three older sons land in Marlboro where they were probably living. To the fourth son, Ephraim, he gave land in Sudbury to be his as soon as he became of age. The rest of his property he left to his wife who should divide it later between the younger children. Mary must have been an unusual woman, capable and independent. Unlike most widows, she never married again, but brought up her sons and daughters alone and did a marvelous job at it."

From Massachusetts Vital Records (NEHGS):

1. 1654: RICE, Thomas, s. Thomas and Mary, June 30, 1654. M.R.; Birth; Sudbury
2. 1656: RICE, Mary, d. Thomas and Mary, Sept. 4, 1656. M.R.; Birth; Sudbury
3. 1658: RICE, Peter, s. Thomas and Mary, Oct. 24, 1658. M.R.; Birth Sudbury
4. 1660: RICE, Nathaniel, s. Thomas and Mary, Jan. 3, 1660. M.R.; Birth; Sudbury
5. 1662: RICE, Sarah, d. Thomas and Mary, Jan. 15, 1662. M.R.; Birth Sudbury
6. 1679: RICE, Elisha, ch. Thomas and Mary, Dec. 4, 1679. M.R.; Birth; Sudbury

Mary King died on 22 March 1714/15 at Sudbury, Massachusetts.^[1]

Will of widow Mary, dated 10 May 1710, proved 11 Apr 1715, mentions sons "Thomas of Marlboro'", Peter, Nathaniel, Ephraim, Gershom, James, Jonas, and Elisha; daughters Mary White, Sarah Adams, Frances Allen and Grace Moore. ^[2][3]

Research Notes

The Boston Gazette, of 26 December 1768, communicates the subject of the longevity of Thomas' children. Article contains errors regarding the age of Thomas. Follow up article: Middlesex News Extra, Jun 8-14, 1984. Thomas was a proprietor.

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FH1C-34K : 14 February 2020), Mary Rice, 1715.
2. ↑ Ward, Andrew Henshaw. A Genealogical History of the Rice Family: Descendants of Deacon Edmund Rice, who came from Barkhamstead, England and settled at Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1638 or 9. (Boston: C. Benjamin Richardson, 1858), 7.
3. ↑ Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org) Case 18761: Will.

See also:

• http://www.geni.com/people/Mary-Rice/6000000002375446516

• Find A Grave memorial #29452990

• Coombs, Jan Gregoire. Coombs Family History (Janet Pulvermacher, Middleton, Wisconsin, 2013) Page 11

• http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family:Thomas_Rice_and_Mary_King_(1)

• Edmund Rice Association
  • Rice Gen'l Register, pp. 1 - 2.
  • Margaret Skinner Rice, Rice Family - S2/P1, p. 1.
  • Almira Larkin White, Ancestry of John White, pp.55 & 56.
  • Boston Transcript, card number 2; file number 6092, dated 22 JAN through 19 FEB 1917. Microfiche collection of the Local History Division, Rochester Public Library, Rochester, NY..
  • Andrew Henshaw A.M. Ward, The Rice Family, pp. 5-7.
  • Middlesex News Extra, June 8-14, 1984.
  • Boston Gazette, 26 Dec 1768.
  • Charles Hudson, Marlborough, MA History, p. 432.

• U S New England Marriages prior to 1700; page 620

• Massachusetts Town & Vital Records 1620-1988; Sudbury Deaths; page 323